BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - - The Wilmington University men's lacrosse team secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament with a 22-6 victory over Bridgeport in the regular season finale on Friday at Knights Field.
The No. 3 seed propels the Wildcats into the CACC Tournament Semifinals hosted by Post University. They will play No. 2 Chestnut Hill on Friday, May 5, in Waterbury, Connecticut after a three-way tie between Chestnut Hill, Wilmington, and Post went to the third tie-break scenario to sort things out, ultimately coming down to the Wildcats defeating Post on Wednesday.
The offense didn't start as fast as it did on Wednesday, but the Wildcats still jumped out in front with the final three goals of the first quarter, 4-1.
The Wildcats scored five goals in the second quarter, but the Purple Knights (1-12, 0-7 CACC) were sticking around, scoring three goals in the quarter, including the final goal to send the teams into the break with the Wildcats leading, 9-4.
Wilmington took the game over in the final three minutes of the third quarter, as the offense came to life. Joe Delgado scored with 3:13 to play in the frame, starting a 5-0 run for the Wildcats to end the quarter. Logan Stinson Scored back-to-back goals and then Giovanni Marino scored his sixth of the game with 45 second left. Logan Stinson beat the clock and score again with five second left, giving the Wildcats a 16-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter as well, taking an 18-5 lead. Miles Crouse, Logan Stinson, TJ Caton, and Giovanni Marino finished out the scoring for the Wildcats, winning the game, 22-6.
Giovanni Marino led the Wildcats with eight goals while Logan Stinson scored six goals and added an assist. Jacob Herman handed out seven assists while Miles Crouse scored three goals and dished out two assists. Josh Lovely and TJ Caton chipped in with two goals and an assist. Caton also had three caused turnovers and scooped up 6 ground balls.
Nick Bruhn came away with five caused turnovers and four grounds defensively for the Wildcats while Brendan Leonard added two caused turnovers. Jack Cruz made 10 saves before Carter Trevisan made two stops on the two shots he faced.
The Wildcats and Griffins will play the second Semifinal game and will start at approximately at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5 at LaMoy Field.